Strange problem: I keep losing the ability to add inserts on mono channels. Pro Tools didn’t offer an error. You would click on the insert selector and nothing. No list of plugins. Nothing.

The only fix was to delete user preferences. /Users/<username>/Library/Preferences/Avid/Pro Tools/<delete these files>

EDIT: The problem is gone again after re-installed Pro Tools 10.3.8. It was never a problem in PT10 but when I tried to replicate the problem, PT10 told me I needed a DSP Mixer plugin. Not finding one, I reinstalled PT10. Now I can’t seem to recreate the problem in PT11.

Solution: Originally I thought it must a permissions issue. Maybe the user didn’t have permission to the mono plugins. But, then again, Avid bundles their AAX plugs (mono, multiple mono/stereo) into one AAX file. So, after reinstalling Pro Tools. Updating Pro Tools, and Updating my plugins, the problem still came back after I began working in a session. Then I started deleting individual preferences.

After multiple attempts of deleting only selected user preferences, I started to think there might be a problem with my IO setup. Consistently, each time I deleting all the prefs and starting Pro Tools, everything would work but my IO setup was reset to the factory default. After I imported my custom IO setup, my mono insert problem would come back.

For reasons I still don’t understand, mono inserts are only available if I have ALL the default paths in the Insert tab of the IO setup. Even though I’m trying to instantiate internal plugins and the insert tab in the IO setup is to design output paths.

IO Setup (below): Still can’t instantiate plugins on mono tracks.

IO Setup (below): This works. You can instantiate plugins on mono tracks.

So far, the problem seems to be isolated to one computer. OSX 10.8.5 Pro Tools HD 11.2.1

The student login uses a loginhook script to copy a student directory into the current student directory. This keeps everything clean when the student logs in.

The challenge is to keep the student directory small so that the copy time is not too long.

Studio 5 had about a fifteen minute login wait. It should only be about a minute. A careful Terminal search revealed a huge amount (about 14GB) of files in the .Trash folder. RM -R .Trash solved the problem.

Unplug the firewire cable from the back of the iMac and refreshed the System Information (command-R). The warning went away and the Firewire bus listed its specifications.

Bad cable or bad device?

Replaced the cable. warning came back.

Replaced the device with another MOTU 828mk2. Warning went away.

Put the original firewire cable to the replaced MOTU 828mk2. Still no warning.

Conclusion. Good cable, bad device.

A quick google search came up with other possibilities for the warning. Same as above plus, try booting off the OSX Installation DVD. If booting from the DVD fixes the problem, then check for corrupted system preferences.